Made My Way To Sydney...

When I landed in Sydney, I just... I didn't want to be there! The people were the same, the problems were the same, and the only person I really wanted to hang out with was on her way to Brisbane! I'm sure some of you can understand the predicament I was in.

I knew I didn't want to be in Sydney and would much rather be in Brisbane, but nothing could be done the night I landed in Sydney. When I checked with the train pass I had, I could arrive in Brisbane at 1030pm the next evening which would mean that if I could get a hold of Zoe to surprise her, I would still have to figure out where she was. Oh yeah, minor detail. If I was going to do this, I was going to surprise her, and little to my knowledge, she didn't have any cell credit on her phone. Awesome! More on that in a minute...

So I did what anybody would do if they wanted to see someone 900kms away. I got a plane ticket for 9am the next morning; figured I would land in Brisbane around 11, give Zoe a surprise "I'm in Brisbane" call and hope for an invite to her party. If only life was that easy.

Excited to go the next morning, I did what all backpackers would do. I opened some duty free Gin and partied with fellow 'packers' until the wee hours of the morning. A little tired, I slept on the flight over and when I landed in Brisbane, I figured I needed a place to stay so I went to the Brisbane YHA.

Once settled in at the hostel, I decided to call Zoe. When I called, it went straight to voice mail. Shit! So here I am, in a city a little further north than Byron Bay, where I was headed in 2 days and no way to get a hold of Zoe. With no real way of getting a hold of her, I figured I would try leaving a facebook message and hope that she got back to me. A couple of hours later, while reading my book on the rooftop patio overlooking the city, my phone started to ring.

It was her. Against all odds, she got my message, gave me a call, and invited me to her last night in Australia party. I was stoked! She told me she was in a suburb of Brisbane 45 minutes, so I got on the train and made my way to Beenleigh. Sure enough, 45 minutes had passed and there I was, hanging out at the Beenleigh train station waiting to get a ride to the party.

When I got to the house, I was greeted by some of the nicest people ever. When working in Australia, Zoe lived with her friend from home Sarah and her husband Carl along with their children. We had a fantastic dinner with loads of conversation and I knew I was in the right place when out of nowhere, Sarah and Zoe started singing kareoke in the living room! What a wicked night!

The next day, we all woke up early in the morning and drove to the Gold Coast Airport, because it was time for Zoe to leave.  Once again, we parted, only this time it was at the airport, but luckily for both of us, Carl doesn't believe in long good-byes, so he put her bags on the curb, gave her a hug, got in the car and started the engine. I really enjoyed having the oportunity to spend that night with everyone in Beenleigh. The one thing that you learn when you travel, is that you always want to be good friends with locals, because they will always show you the best time. That's anywhere in the world!

Bummed again that Zoe was gone, Carl, Sarah and I drove back to their house where we would all attempt to get a couple hours sleep before we tried to figure anything out for the day. After some great hospitality, Carl drove me to the train station so I could get back to Brisbane, and told me I could visit anytime. I'm going to hold you to that! lol

Back in Brisbane, it was time for me to plan my travels to Byron bay, because The Byron Bay Blues Festival was starting the next day and I needed to be there!

Next Stop, BYRON BAY....

Peter